Saturday, November 2, 2013

Wondrously Polished is One!

Happy Saturday, all! So I let yesterday come and go and didn't even realize that it was the one year anniversary of the day I started my blog! How cow, I can not believe it's been a year already. Time sure does fly when you have an addiction/obsession/passion. In honor of this milestone, I decided to recreate a few of the first manicures I felt were worthy of being posted on the internet.

Sigh. Looking through these past posts, I was cringing a bit. I'm not sure why I thought some of these looked remotely good! I used terrible lighting, had poor nail care, and cleanup was optional. So, with that, lets take a walk down memory lane and see how much I've improved over a year...though I really had no where but up from my original looks ;) I'll share my original try first, then the recreated mani one year later after.

This was the very first manicure I did that was more than just one solid color. This green, OPI's Don't Mess With OPI, was actually the color that started my nail polish obsession. I had always bought pinks and reds and while there are some great colors in that color family, it was uninspiring for me. DMWO completely blew my mind and it was all downhill from there.

This look is a base of DMWO and I did what I called "V-Gaps" in Nicole by OPI's Follow Me On Glitter. This was my very first attempt at nail art and my first attempt at a taped manicure. I remember painstakingly placing scotch tape on my nails and failing miserably the first time. The green polish pulled up and I had to start over. This was before I had a fast dry top coat and I was incredibly impatient and did not wait long enough. I finally managed it, though and took pictures of the look...with horrible tip wear, terrifying cuticles and an awkward hand pose!

Very First Attempt at Nail Art (Taped!)

I like to think that my lighting and hand poses have improved. I still struggle sometimes with my cuticles, but I'd say the difference between the two are pretty drastic.

By this point in my nail experience, I had been seeing tons of gradients floating around. However, I failed to actually watch/research HOW to do a gradient nail. So I sort of just winged it and hoped for the best...and I ended up with a "sort of" gradient.

I used Sally Hansen's Grey by Grey and Essie's Turquoise & Caicos for this and didn't know anything about the finishes or types of polishes. T&C is definitely more of a jelly and does not work very well in a gradient with a VERY opaque darker color. Because of this, my gradient failed miserably. It was basically just green underneath dark blue. Not really a gradient and more of just a "did she forget to finish painting her nails??" look.

Original Attempt at Gradient Nail Art

In my new attempt at a gradient with the same colors, I realized that the jelliness of T&C was not going to work with GBC. I ended up adding Essie's Maximillian Strasse-Her between the two colors in order to create a more seamless gradient. Despite this, these still aren't the best polishes to use for a gradient and you can see a lot of texture coming through. Still! I'd say these are a much better gradient than before :)

Fast forward about a month. I was starting to get the hang of things a bit by now. I had acquired some striping brushes, my nails were looking better, and my cuticles were not as bad as before. My photos still left something to be desired, but at least my lighting wasn't completely atrocious.

This was the first freehand attempt that I was really proud of. Around this time I had gotten really sick and ended up in the hospital for a miserable night and ended up staying home from work for almost a week recovering. And I was going stir crazy and decided I was going to do something crazy with my nails. This design originally took me, no joke, close to 3 hours. My back was broken after doing this, but I wanted my lines to be perfect! ;) I used Zoya's Aurora and Ulta's Concrete Evidence for this and still really love the funkiness of this.

Original Attempt at Freehand Nail Art

I think the biggest change between these two looks is the cleanness of my line work. I think I have finally figured out how to use my striping brush to produce straight lines, whereas before I really struggled with it. I also think my photography has improved greatly. I often think my photography leaves something to be desired, but seeing the comparison from then and now, I can really see them change.

Freehand Nail Art One Year Later

Overall, I don't think I can deny that I've improved. I think my photography, nail care, and overall ability has greatly improved and I'm so proud of myself for actually growing and getting better. I like to think that I'm always pushing myself to improve and I would love to continually look back over the years and only see improvement. What more can you ask for?

What do you think of my original attempts and my recreations of them? Do you see improvement like I do?

Most importantly, is there anything you'd like to see going forward with my blog? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram, Facebook and Bloglovin' :)

Congratulations Lindsey! There is no denying that you have improved immensely- but I think your first designs are still very creative and well done :)Imagine what you will be like in another years time!

Love this post! It's so encouraging to see a blogger that I admire so much, share her humble beginnings lol. I have just recently found your blog today and you are a GODDESS! This is hands down my favorite blog on the internet. <3

You are too sweet - thank you! You've made my night :) I'm so glad this post was helpful and encouraging to people. I know I am guilty of looking at more popular blogs and only comparing myself to them instead of looking inward and seeing how much I'm improving as well.

I love getting comments! However, sometimes life gets in the way and I'm not able to respond to every one, but know I do read and appreciate each and every one. If you have questions, I'll do my best to respond in a timely fashion!